Friday, November 9, 2018
3:00 PM, 132 Gilman Hall
"BOLT Hypersonic Boundary Layer
Transition Flight Experiment"
Presented by Dr. Bradley M. Wheaton
Johns Hopkins University - Applied Physics Laboratory
Accurate prediction of boundary layer transition is a critical issue for the design of
hypersonic flight vehicles. Boundary layer transition is caused by small disturbances
within the boundary layer that grow via a variety of mechanisms to cause turbulence.
The physics of this process are being incorporated into new tools that can perhaps be
used to predict transition on future hypersonic vehicles, however validation of these
tools requires wind-tunnel and flight validation data. The Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory is leading a large team of organizations across government,
industry, and academia to design and conduct the BOLT Flight Test Experiment to
obtain measurements of boundary-layer transition at hypersonic speeds via a sounding
rocket flight. The measurements will be used to improve modeling and prediction tools.
A 3-year grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research is underway to perform
computational predictions of transition, measure transition in a wind-tunnel test
campaign at multiple facilities, and conduct the flight experiment (scheduled for May
2020). This talk will introduce BOLT and provide an overview of ongoing activities
related to computational predictions, wind-tunnel test results, and engineering
challenges faced in the design of the flight experiment.